After playing at a very high level over the first eight games of the 2019 season, Matthew Stafford suffered a back injury and the Detroit Lions dropped the remainder of the games on their schedule to finish with a 3-12-1 record.
During those first eight games, Stafford was outstanding as he was on pace to throw for nearly 5,000 yards and 38 touchdowns.
For the Lions to have any chance whatsoever of challenging for an NFC North title in 2020, Stafford will have to remain healthy for 16 games and he will have to play at the same level he did a year ago.
Well, if Stafford’s performance in the first week of training camp is any indication, he is ready to roll.
According to Ben Raven of MLive, Stafford has looked sharp early on.
From MLive:
The Lions quarterback missed on one, maybe two passes all morning. Not bad for someone practicing for the first time this week since last November. He was slinging the ball around, squeezing it in tight windows while flashing serious chemistry with Marvin Jones and T.J. Hockenson (more on the second-year tight end in a bit). He started the day with a picture-perfect deep ball for Jesse James, who high-point snatched it and set the tone. Stafford was calm in the pocket, looked fine when moving around and spread the love from short to medium to deep routes all morning.
“It’s huge for me from that standpoint, especially because we are in a training camp mode when we go offense versus defense,” Lions coach Matt Patricia said of Stafford. “One of the things we talk a lot about with the offense, and really Stafford’s done an unbelievable job of, is just getting in and out of the huddle and having those substitutions be really sharp and crisp and that puts a lot of pressure on the defense when that happens. He’s certainly very comfortable with the offensive system and being able to get guys where they need to go very quickly.
Nation, what kind of numbers do you think Stafford will put up in 2020?
